Mahlet Teklemariam
Founder, Hub of Africa Fashion Week
The visionary behind Hub of Africa Fashion Week has created an international platform for buzzy brands from Ethiopia and neighbouring countries to access new markets.
Mahlet Teklemariam is the founder and organiser of Hub of Africa Fashion Week (HAFW). Since its inception in 2010, HAFW has been held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as an event promoting African fashion, creativity and entrepreneurship on the international stage. Often focusing on buzzy brands from Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation and one of the continent’s fastest-growing economies, the showcase also gathers designers from countries in the wider East African subregion such as Kenya, Uganda, Somalia and Tanzania as well as those further afield. Diasporic designers who source from the continent are also offered business opportunities.
In addition to B2C initiatives, the programme provides a B2B platform for local and regional fashion talent to connect with industry leaders, including buyers, investors and fashion editors. The annual event consists not only of runway shows but also of exhibitions, workshops, seminars, round-table discussions and networking opportunities. Teklemariam was born in Addis Ababa and grew up in the US, where she studied marketing and business management at Baruch College in New York before returning to Ethiopia in 2008. She has served as a fashion editor at Tadias Magazine and is the owner of Clairvoyant Marketing Agency.
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Africa’s Fashion Factories Pay for US Trade Limbo Over AGOA
Even if Washington moves to extend the duty-free trade deal for 32 African countries, letting it lapse in September has put factory jobs at risk and forced manufacturers to absorb new costs, weakening US sourcing ties across the region from Kenya to Madagascar.
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